Of Ice Cream Shops and Bullet Holes
by DinerGuy
Summary: In which Danny is bleeding out on the floor, Steve is chasing the criminal, Grace is trying to follow directions, and Rachel is going to be livid.


_A/N: Set somewhere in season 1 (because that's all I've really seen so far)._

 _Standard disclaimers apply._

* * *

It was one of those days Danny always looked forward to. A Saturday where he didn't have to go into the office but could spend as much time as he wanted with his family. No crime scenes, no high-speed chases, no Steve dragging him into potentially deadly situations. Just Danny and Grace and an entire day all to themselves. Or at least, that had been his plan when the day had started.

When they walked into the ice cream shop, Grace was skipping along in excitement. She was chattering to Danny about something that had happened at school yesterday, and Danny was listening to every word. At least, he was, up until the man at the counter turned toward the door when he heard Grace's voice.

"Oh no," Danny muttered under his breath, even as Grace stopped talking for a brief moment before exclaiming in excitement.

"Uncle Steve!" She let go of Danny's hand and bounded across the tile to where Steve was opening his arms for her hug. "What are you doing here?"

He patted her on the head as he straightened, looking at Danny before turning back to the little girl. "I'm working. What about you? You keeping your old dad here in line?"

"Uh, yeah!" she replied with a raised eyebrow, as if wondering why the question even had to be asked in the first place. "We went to the museum and then we're getting ice cream and then we're going to the beach," she informed him.

The look Steve was shooting at Danny was not lost on the detective, so Danny leaned down and put a hand on his daughter's back. "Hey, Gracie, why don't you go pick out what flavor you want? I need to talk to Uncle Steve for a minute, okay?"

"Okay," she said simply before bouncing over to the glass display case across the room. Grace had long since gotten used to her dad and his partner having conversations that they didn't want her overhearing, and she didn't even blink at the request.

When Grace was sufficiently out of earshot, Danny cleared his throat. "What's wrong?"

"Look, you know that series of robberies on the island?" Steve asked, keeping his voice low and glancing around to make sure no employees are nearby. The clerk was nowhere to be seen - a fact that Danny was certainly going to bring up to the management - and so Steve turned back to Danny and raised an eyebrow.

Danny just nodded and waited for Steve to elaborate.

"The governor asked me to help look into them. Seems like there might be a connection between this crew and a robbery at a beach house." He noticed the question on Danny's face. "Local police are handling that case. The owners have been out of town and just got home to find things missing. There was no sign of a break-in or anything. Anyway, but they're close friends of the governor's wife, so he wants me to see what I could find out."

"And you just so happen to have to investigate the exact ice cream shop where I'm taking Grace?" Danny was not pleased. "Can't I have one day, just one day, without some sort of case with you?"

Steve shook his head and looked over to where Grace was standing on her tiptoes and examining all of the offerings behind the counter. "I just need to ask the manager a few questions. And then I'll be out of your hair, I promise." He grinned.

"Hmph," Danny grumbled. His partner was smirking at him, and Danny was quite sure he did not appreciate being patronized.

Just then, the bell over the door jingled again. Steve's brow furrowed, prompting Danny to turn slightly to take in the sight of whoever had just walked inside. The look on his partner's face was concerning enough, and when Danny caught sight of these newcomers, his worry deepened immediately. There were two men in the shop now, in addition to Steve, Danny, and Grace. Both looked to be in their young twenties, and neither had any particular features to make them stand out, other than their jeans and hoodies on a summer day in the tropics. Danny turned back to say something to Steve about them, but then the clerk reappeared from the kitchen and one of the men stuck his hand in the pocket of his hoodie.

Danny didn't hesitate but headed for where Grace was standing at the counter, blissfully ignorant to what was going on around her. "Hey, sweetie, I'm really sorry but I think I forgot my wallet. Why don't we go back to the car and get it? Then we can come back." He forced himself to stay calm and not draw any attention, but he needed to get Grace out and get her out now. Steve could worry about whoever these troublemakers were; Danny didn't particularly care at the moment. All he could think about was getting his daughter to safety above all else. He was only halfway there when the gunshot rang out.

Grace screamed and at first Danny thought she'd been hit, but then he realized her hands were over her ears and she was crouching near the floor. Her eyes were wide, and the relief that washed over him when he realized she was okay was immediately replaced with anger against the men who had terrified his daughter.

"Give us all of the money in the register!" Danny heard a voice bark, but he didn't turn around to look until he reached Grace and planted himself firmly in front of her. Whatever happened next, he was not letting anyone touch her.

Steve was poised where he stood, and Danny could tell the man was weighing the pros and cons of rushing the robbers. One was close enough for Steve to take him out easily, but the second was too far from both Steve and Danny for either of them to reach him before he could get off any shots. With Grace in the room, there was no way Danny was taking that risk. He only hoped Steve had that same thought.

And then Grace let out a tiny whimper, and Danny was brought back to his current predicament. His daughter was extremely brave and strong, but she was still a little girl, and Danny suddenly felt a rush of anger toward these men. How dare they come in here and scare his daughter? There were plenty of other stores and restaurants around. Why did they have to pick this one?

There was a shout from the gunman, who was now swinging a pistol in Steve's direction. "Hey! Hey, don't be a hero!"

Steve had both hands up at his sides and an expression of innocence plastered on his face. "I'm not -"

"Shut up!" the man yelled, waving his gun meaningfully. "Just shut up and stop moving!" Then he shook his head. "Actually, get over there with them!" he barked the order, looking pointedly to where Danny was still standing in front of Grace.

Steve did as he was told, keeping his hands visible and trying to appear as innocent as possible. "Okay, okay," he said, his voice low and steady. "No need to get excited."

The sound of sirens suddenly came from outside, and both of the robbers started in surprise as their attention turns toward the windows at the front of the store.

And that was when all hell broke loose.

Steve rushed the first of the two men, and Danny growled out loud and pushed Grace toward the side of the counter. "Get down!" he yelled. Thankfully, she took the hint and ran around to the other side where she'd be shielded from any bullets that might start to fly. Hopefully.

Danny then rushed the second robber, executing a tackle that would have made his high school coach proud. He somehow managed to take the guy to the floor, even though the criminal was larger than Danny himself. He could hear muffled grunting from where Steve was rolling around on the floor with the gunman, trying to get the upper hand from a man who was trying to do the same himself. And then the man Danny tackled managed to land a solid right hook across the detective's jaw and sent him reeling backward. He didn't pause, because all Danny could think about was keeping Grace safe; he threw himself back into the fray before the stars cleared completely from his vision. Somehow, although he was not exactly sure how, he managed to land his own punch that nearly incapacitated the guy, and then he followed it up with two more. Abruptly, there was no more fight, just an unconscious would-be robber sprawled on the floor.

Panting, Danny put his hand into the man's pocket and recovered the weapon that was tucked away there. He sat back on his heels and wiped his brow, then turned his attention to Steve, fully intending to help his friend if needed.

But then another shot rang out.

It took Danny a moment to realize that the man Steve was fighting had not fired his weapon. His next thought was that Steve had somehow grabbed a gun and fired, but that thought was dismissed as well when he saw Steve looking just as shocked as he felt. There was something else in Steve's expression too, and Danny wasn't sure if it was fury or concern or maybe a mixture of both…

And then he slumped to the floor even as his brain fumbled to catch up. He glanced down as he fell, frowning curiously at the red stain that was blossoming on the front of his shirt. He vaguely heard Steve scuffling with the criminal again, then suddenly, Steve was leaping up and running past him. That clerk must have been hiding a gun. Apparently, Steve had a good reason for investigating the shop. If only Danny had thought to ask before this.

The pain hadn't hit him yet, and he wondered why before belatedly chalking it up to shock. He really couldn't feel anything other than the absolute frigid tile he was lying on. Why did he ever complain that Hawaii was hotter than any human should have to stand? He'd been much warmer in New Jersey at times.

And then he blinked and Grace was leaning over him, her face wrinkling in fear and worry with tears tracking down her cheeks.

Danny frowned. "No, no, don't cry, Monkey. What's wrong?"

"You…" She sniffled, then an unreadable look crossed her face and she reached for something.

Then there was pressure on his side, sharp and hard, and Danny yelped in surprise, then groaned as the pain hit him. He squeezed his eyes shut but then opened them again as he looked at his daughter in concern. "What are you doing?" he asked, his words more slurred than he had intended.

She frowned in determination. "Uncle Steve said for me to put pressure on your side," she told him matter-of-factly.

"What? Why is Steve making you do that?" Why was his partner making his daughter participate in this disaster? Danny was going to kill the man. Grace didn't need to see anything to do with blood or gore or gunshot wounds, much less on her own father. Rachel would be furious. Danny _was_ furious.

"He had to go catch the bad guy," she told him, as if that explained everything.

And Danny supposed it did; he was just never going to admit it to anyone.

He was fading in and out, he guessed, because it seemed like he had only blinked but then Steve's face was there instead of Grace's. There was a barely hidden panic dancing in the man's eyes, and Danny wondered if that meant he should be more worried about his physical state. Steve was asking him something though, Danny realized.

"Danny? Danny, can you hear me?"

"This is all your fault," Danny grumbled, ignoring the question.

"What?" Steve looked only slightly taken aback, then he smirked, which only served to make Danny madder. How dare he look amused right now!

"This whole day started to go downhill the minute we walked in here to find you," he muttered.

Steve glanced down, then frowned and put a hand on Danny's chest, even as Danny felt the pressure on his side increase. "Shh, Danny, stop talking."

"No, I'm not done!"

"Really, Danny, you're making it worse."

There was more he wanted to say, Danny was sure of it, but for some reason, all of his thoughts had fled from his mind. He couldn't put his finger on any one thing he actually wanted to lecture Steve about. But then he heard a small sniffle from beyond his field of vision, and he frowned. "And another thing, Steven…"

"Danny!" Steve barked. "Just stop talking for once in your life, okay? You're losing a lot of blood, and you need to stay calm. The paramedics will be here any minute."

As if on cue, the wailing of a siren cut through the air and Grace's head reappeared over Steve's shoulder. "Uncle Steve, the ambulance is here."

Everything faded out then, and the next thing Danny knew, he was strapped on a gurney and being loaded into the back of the ambulance. He vaguely saw Steve holding Grace, climbing in behind the stretcher with his arms wrapped tightly around the little girl. There was blood on Grace's hands and smeared on her sundress, and Danny opens his mouth to lecture his partner about the proper ways to take care of a child.

The gurney bumped just then as its wheels hit the ambulance floor, and everything spun around him for a minute. Even as things start fading again as the paramedics maneuvered Danny into place in the vehicle, he frowned to himself. He wanted - no, _needed_ \- to be awake when Rachel heard the story of what happened in the ice cream shop, because if it was up to Steve, the whole thing would be told wrong and then there would be yet another in the long line of reasons Rachel seemed perpetually mad at him these days.

The next moment, he felt a little hand in his, and he relaxed as the doors to the ambulance slammed shut. At the end of the day, he still had Grace, safe and sound, and that was all that mattered. Well, that and good teammates. Maybe Danny could convince Kono to yell at Steve for him at the hospital later.

* * *

 _Fin._


End file.
